I have been getting quite a few emails around the topic of shipping out your products, so I decided to hammer it out in this podcast episode. There is so much misinformation out there on this topic that a lot of people never start building their online store because of this one thing. AND…I’m about to bust down that door for you!
Is shipping stopping you? Stop shipping your products out yourself!
The questions that come in start like this…
“Hey, Alison. I want to start an online store but how can ship products if I travel all the time”
Or “I live in Canada, Australia, or some other country”
Or “I don’t want to ship because my ‘helpful’ kids unpack everything.”
Have you ever had any of these thoughts running through your head?
It can be tough enough with all the other big fat lies that our brain tells us; you definitely don’t need more stuff trying to hold us down.
You're thinking that starting an online business means you have to be right there, touching the product, packing it, and shipping it. You know, with tape balls from those failed attempts at closing a box stuck all over you – or packing peanuts scattered all over the floor of your kitchen – or your kids unpacking things faster than you can pack them.
Well, I’ve got some good news for ya about shipping products!
You actually don't have to be shipping your products out yourself at all. In fact, if you are shipping things out on your own, it’s probably hurting your business.
I mean, think about it. You’ve already got extremely limited time -you are working, being a mom, chauffeur, cook, and every role in between. So why would you spend time doing something in your business that isn’t helping it grow more? Seriously?!
To clarify one thing – I’m not trying to tell you to get into dropshipping. I promise you can count on me to only teach you things that I personally know work and work well. I’ve never really had luck with dropshipping and when I did have some exposure to it, I noticed the customer complaints were sky-high. No bueno. (My Spanish is getting better ?)
Ok, I just wanted to clear that up in case you might have been thinking I was trying to get you into the dropshipping business model.
At this point, I've been shipping products out for over nine years, and for pretty much all that time, I haven't personally packed or shipped any of the products. Yet they all made it out the door, were delivered on time, and had my signature piece of Laffy Taffy in each and every one.
I know how to do it – shipping, that is. I just choose not to.
That’s because I realized that the secret to selling more is hiring out the things that are taking you away from growing and marketing your business.
Yes, the big reveal is…don’t do what doesn’t make you money, and that includes shipping out your own stuff! Umm..hum.
I want you to have a profitable online store around the life that you want!
Is your ecommerce business up and running?
Before we get into how to automate the shipping process, I want to make sure that you’ve actually got your business up and running. If not, here are the 6-steps to making that happen.
#1 – Set up your store in Shopify. It will cost you $30 to get up and running. And yes, you can afford it, just skip out on that Dirty Diet Coke for a few times each month, and boom, it’s paid for.
#2 – Get a sample of the products that you want to sell. You can’t skip this step, and for the love of love, don’t buy a ton of them!
#3 – Build out your product. Take awesome pics, write great descriptions, set the price, etc. This is all the things that people will see when they visit your product page.
#4 – Order the minimum amount of products needed. Don’t buy 10,000 units if you are just getting up and running.
#5 – Get out there and let your customers know how awesome the products are. This is the fun part.
#6 – Ship your products that sold. You got a new customer, now it’s time to get them the product asap so they can experience how awesome it is.
A lot of this you, the business owner, must do in the beginning but there are a few things that you can rethink even from early on in your business.
You need to be focused on the jobs that give you extra commas in your bank account. Don’t do a $10-$15/hour job when you could do a $1000/hr job. (No, this isn’t unrealistic – promise)
How you can stop shipping your products out yourself.
Shipping your products out should be outsourced!
One of the first $10-$15/hour jobs that you should outsource is fulfillment. That's packing and shipping of your fantastic product so it can get into your customers' hands! Yes, you can hire this part out!
But you probably have a ton of questions about this though, so I’ll try and address some of those for you now comparing hiring someone nearby where you live versus a big fulfillment center.
Hiring Locally:
- Can I hire a friend or neighbor to help? YES! I surely did.
- How do they know how to ship? You tell them exactly what to do! Create step-by-step instructions.
- How do I ask them? It’s a win-win so don’t be nervous. They want to work from home or make some extra money in their spare time, and you give them the means to make that happen.
Fulfillment Centers:
- What does a fulfillment center actually do? Just like the name says, they fulfill (pick, pack, ship) your orders as they come in.
- Can I just ship the product to them? You can ship directly to them – the product doesn’t need to come to your home, RV, or bus down by the river.
- What if I want to add extras to the package? (For instance, a laffy taffy candy in each order to send sugar and a smile!!!) Ask them! They may charge, but they will definitely do it.
- What about returns? They will handle them and ship out a new product. Again, there is probably a fee here so be sure to ask.
- Where does the money from the order go? It goes into your bank! Umm-hmm! The fulfillment center doesn’t have access to that part of your Shopify store.
- Do they take a percentage of the order? Nope! They usually charge a flat fee or a per-piece fee. I recommend going with someone that does a flat fee – it’s much more simple to set up.
- Do they handle customer service? Nope. You have to do this – or what I recommend is hiring this out as well.
- What about customs? If they are located in the country that your customers are, then you don’t have to pay fees! It’s magical!
I hope that gave you some clarity and direction on how you can quickly drop that $10-$15/hour job.
Feel free to stop working for $10-15/ hour when you could be making hundreds or thousands an hour. Heck to the YES!
Stop with the excuses on why you can’t start or grow your business and focus on the things that free up your time to make more money and get more customers.
Key Takeaways: I realized that the secret to selling more is hiring the shipping part out. (4:55)
- All of that can happen if you have the systems in place. (6:26)
- Set up your store online, and I recommend Shopify. (7:54)
- Get a sample of the products that you want to sell. (9:28)
- After you've approved your product, now it's time to play. Dress up. (10:45)
- Order the minimum product quantity needed to sell on your online shop. (11:06)
- Get out there. Let your customers know how awesome your products are. (11:31)
- You can either hire shipping out locally or use a fulfillment center. (11:39)
- The questions I get asked about hiring locally and fulfillment centers. (13:27)
- Shippers usually don't make hundreds of dollars per hour. Biz owners do. (19:14)
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